Saturday, October 13, 2012

HOLDERNESS, N.H. — A 62-year-old Connecticut woman became stranded on Moon Island in Squam Lake on Friday.Norma Cavello, of Plainville, Conn., became separated from three others while kayaking on Squam Lake in Holderness.Cavello, described as an experienced kayaker by conservation officers, was towing another kayak filled with supplies when she encountered strong winds and two-foot swells at around 3 p.m.The rough weather forced her to beach her kayaks at a rocky shoreline, officials said.Officials said that at around 6:20 p.m., the rest of her group called 911 to report that Cavello was not with them.By 9:21, rescue officials said they were able to locate Cavello, who was still in good condition. They said she had started a fire and shielded herself from the elements.Officials said they then reunited Cavello with the rest of her group on Moon Island, where the group originally planned on camping for the weekend.

UPDATED 1:48pm 10/13/12 - DOVER - Police have arrested a 29-year-old Dover man in connection with the disappearance and death of University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott, the Attorney General's Office said Saturday.

New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney, along with the FBI and assisting police departments, held a press conference at 1 p.m. on Saturday to announce that the 19-year-old commuter student is dead. Her car was found at UNH.

Police have arrested 29-year-old Seth Mazzaglia, of Dover, in connection with her death. He will be arraigned for second degree murder on Monday. The body of the 19-year-old has not been recovered.

Authorities said that Marriott and Mazzaglia "knew each other," but would not elaborate.

Public records show that Mazzaglia used to live in the Sawyer Mill apartment complex where Marriott was supposed to be visiting on Tuesday night. He also lists the building as his home address on his web page.

According to Mazzaglia’s webpage, he is karate instructor with a 4th degree black belt, an experienced Actor, Writer and Fight Choreographer.

A crime scene had been set up on Peirce Island Friday night, and searchers were back on the island on Saturday morning.

A candlelight vigil is being held tonight at Bay State Commons in Westboro at 7 p.m. in support of Marriott’s family.

ORIGINAL STORY:

DOVER, N.H. (CBS/AP) — A crime scene on Pierce Island has become the latest focus in the search for a missing UNH studentand Westboro resident.

Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott has been missing since last Tuesday, and the search for her has led police and FBI to Pierce Island.

While a heavy police presence and a large area of Prescott Park being taped off indicates the significance of the scene, police have made no statement as to the relation of Pierce Island to Marriott’s disappearance.

That silence has been troubling for family members, who showed up at the scene looking for answers.

“I just want to get answers for my family and do anything I can to help bring her home safely,” Marriott’s aunt, Rebecca Tyning, said.

Searchers have been combing seacoast communities after Marriott disappeared after making plans to visit friends earlier this week.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said investigators searched for Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott “from the sea, land and sky” and continued to hold out hope of finding her alive.

Young said a bulletin was broadcast to police nationwide with Marriott’s description and that of the car she was driving — a tan 2001 Mazda Tribute. The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

“At this point I would stress this is a missing person investigation,” Young said, adding that the legion of FBI agents and state and local investigators “does not mean that we think something nefarious has happened to Lizzi.”

RELATED NEWS:Crime scene at Dover apartment building
May be connected to missing UNH student

DOVER, N.H. —Police were seen entering an apartment building in Dover late Friday night and a Dumpster in the parking lot was taped off with crime scene tape.

The building is on Mill Street, right along the edge of the Piscatiqua River.

The apartment is believed to be where Lizzi Marriott was headed late Tuesday night to visit a friend. She has not been heard from since and police, family and friends have launched a massive search effort.

Police would not say if the activity Friday night was related to the Marriott disappearance, but did refer all questions to the investigator with the state Attorney General's Office, which is handling her case.

This police activity all took place while investigators swarmed Peirce Island in Portsmouth Friday where they told News 9 it was a recovery effort and they expected to find a body. Again, police would not say if that scene was related to the Marriott case, but most of the investigators involved in that case were at Peirce Island, along with one of Marriott's aunts.

How can we as Americans who love our country get these changes made to save this country. Start with passing this on to everyone you know.Warren Buffet is asking each visitor to this information to forward a link to this page to a minimum oftwenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.In the days to come, most people in The United States of America will have the message.This is one idea that really should be passed around.*Congressional Reform Act of 2012*1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in officeand receives no pay whenthey're out of office.2. Congress (past, present & future)participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to theSocial Security system immediately.All future funds flow into theSocial Security system, and Congressparticipates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan,just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.5. Congress loses their current health care systemand participates in the same health care system as the American people.6. Congress must equally abide by all lawsthey impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/12. The Americanpeople did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.The Founding Fathers envisionedcitizen legislators, so ours shouldserve their term(s), then go home and back to work.If each person contacts a minimumof twenty people then it willonly take three days for most people (in the U.S. )to receive the message.Don't you think it's time?THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

Portland, CT — A faithful rescue dog is a hero for saving the life of a newborn baby who unbeknownst to her parents had stopped breathing.

The Brousseau family adopted Duke, the life-saving mixed breed canine, about six years ago. Last Sunday night, according to WFSB Hartford, Duke jumped on the Brousseaus’ bed and was jumping up and down and shaking so “uncontrollably” that he woke up Jenna Brousseau and her husband.

Since their family dog was always “insanely obedient,” the couple knew something was wrong in the house and Duke — through his bizarre behavior – was trying to alert the Brousseaus to that. And they were right: “When they went into their 9-week-old daughter Harper’s room, she was not breathing.”

The parents called 911, and paramedics quickly responded to the residence and revived Harper. She was later treated at a local hospital and apparently is back home and doing fine now.

According to Lifewithdogs.tv, “Jenna Brousseau believes that Duke understands what they did for him when they rescued him and truly wanted to return the favor.”

The Brosseaus hope that sharing this story of how Duke saved their baby daughter Harper will encourage other families to adopt a homeless dog from a shelter. October is Adopt-a-Shelter Dog month.

DOVER, N.H. (CBS/AP) — A crime scene on Pierce Island has become the latest focus in the search for a missing UNH studentand Westboro resident.

Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott has been missing since last Tuesday, and the search for her has led police and FBI to Pierce Island.

While a heavy police presence and a large area of Prescott Park being taped off indicates the significance of the scene, police have made no statement as to the relation of Pierce Island to Marriott’s disappearance.

That silence has been troubling for family members, who showed up at the scene looking for answers.

“I just want to get answers for my family and do anything I can to help bring her home safely,” Marriott’s aunt, Rebecca Tyning, said.

Searchers have been combing seacoast communities after Marriott disappeared after making plans to visit friends earlier this week.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said investigators searched for Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott “from the sea, land and sky” and continued to hold out hope of finding her alive.

Young said a bulletin was broadcast to police nationwide with Marriott’s description and that of the car she was driving — a tan 2001 Mazda Tribute. The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

“At this point I would stress this is a missing person investigation,” Young said, adding that the legion of FBI agents and state and local investigators “does not mean that we think something nefarious has happened to Lizzi.”

RELATED NEWS:Crime scene at Dover apartment building
May be connected to missing UNH student

DOVER, N.H. —Police were seen entering an apartment building in Dover late Friday night and a Dumpster in the parking lot was taped off with crime scene tape.

The building is on Mill Street, right along the edge of the Piscatiqua River.

The apartment is believed to be where Lizzi Marriott was headed late Tuesday night to visit a friend. She has not been heard from since and police, family and friends have launched a massive search effort.

Police would not say if the activity Friday night was related to the Marriott disappearance, but did refer all questions to the investigator with the state Attorney General's Office, which is handling her case.

This police activity all took place while investigators swarmed Peirce Island in Portsmouth Friday where they told News 9 it was a recovery effort and they expected to find a body. Again, police would not say if that scene was related to the Marriott case, but most of the investigators involved in that case were at Peirce Island, along with one of Marriott's aunts.

Friday, October 12, 2012

The University of New Hampshire sophomore disappeared after telling friends back in her home town of Westborough, Mass. that she was heading to visit new friends she had made since moving in with her aunt and uncle in Chester.

Officials say a second person may be arrested in connection with the case of 19-year-old Elizabeth Marriott, a University of New Hampshire student believed to have been killed a week ago.

Police are investigating claims that Marriott may have suffered a suffocation death during a sexual encounter with 29-year-old Seth Mazzaglia and another woman, CBS Boston reports.

Marriott was last seen on Oct. 9 after attending an evening class in Dover. Mazzaglia was charged Saturday with second-degree murder. He is accused of killing Marriott in his apartment that night.

A law enforcement official who spoke under condition of anonymity on Tuesday said that additional arrests should be expected, the Portsmouth Herald reported.

But Associate Attorney General Jane Young said Wednesday that authorities do not have enough evidence to charge a second person in connection with Marriott's death, according to the Herald.

"We bring a charge when there's evidence," Young said. "What I maintain in this case, is if the evidence brings us to the fact that another person was or other persons were involved then other charges would be brought."

Marriott's body has not been found, but authorities have been searching the waters around Peirce Island in nearby Portsmouth in hopes of finding her.

Source did not believe police had any one person in particular they were focused on and did not rule out that Marriott may have been involved in an accident."We're not ruling out that she was an inexperienced driver and may have just driven off the side of the road. It's quite a distance. And we're trying to coordinate a search," he said."Police are trying to gather any information they can from her computer, her laptop and phones. They want to know who she was communicating with and see her last messages," said Anthony Hanna, Marriott's uncle with whom she lived in Chester, N.H.An army of volunteers are fanning out today around Dover, N.H., posting missing person fliers and searching for signs of 19-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott.Volunteers plan to distribute 2,500 fliers today alone, according to family members.Investigators from the state Attorney General's Office, FBI, and Fish and Game have joined state and local police in the hunt for 19-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott, a sophomore and marine biology major who planned to visit a friend in Dover after classes Tuesday night but never showed up. "We have no answers, a lot of questions and a lot of hope," her father, Bob Marriott, said from a room next to the police department where volunteers and others were organizing teams of searchers who spent Friday looking for clues along the sides of roads and other spots around the UNH campus and in nearby Dover. Investigators pinged her cell phone, which indicated a signal around 9:30 p.m. in the Dover area. Another ping indicated that she was somewhere between Dover and Durham around 10:10 p.m., possibly in the area of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, according to another aunt, Becky Tyning of Beverly, Mass. Marriott's cousin, Tommy Hanna, 17, said she lived upstairs of his parents' home and while he heard her going to bed Monday night, he didn't see her. He said he left around 5 a.m. Tuesday before she awoke and that he hasn't heard from her. “She’s a new driver. She didn’t get her license until she was 18 just a week before she started college. She’s newer to New Hampshire. She’s only been here a year. She’s only gone to UNH for this past month,” said Marriott’s aunt, Becky Hannah. “She’s damn smart and she’s clever, but I don’t know if her street smarts are that great and we really need everybody to help us.”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Original Story:
DURHAM — Police throughout the region are searching for a University of New Hampshire student who hasn't been heard from since leaving a class last Tuesday night.
Elizabeth Marriott, 19, a commuter student at the University of New Hampshire, attended a class on Tuesday and was last seen at 9 p.m., police said.
Chester Police Officer Nick McLellan said Elizabeth Marriott is a University of New Hampshire student who lives at home in Chester with her parents.
The UNH Police Department is assisting the Chester Police Department and also the Westborough, Mass. Police Department in the search.

She has not made contact with anyone since sending a text message to a friend just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday night after a class at the university.

Elizabeth Marriott, who goes by “Lizzie,” is a marine biology major and a sophomore at UNH. Family said between classes, her volunteer work at the New England Aquarium and her job at Target, she has little time to socialize. Marriott’s family is confused and concerned. They said this is completely out of character.

A family member tells investigators Marriott had indicated she was thinking about going to Portsmouth to see friends after class.

Students said they have not received an e-mail from the school notifying them of the incident.
McLellan said she did not return home that night, did not show up for her job at the Target store in Greenland on Wednesday, and has not been to any of her classes in the last two days.
On Thursday, police put out an alert for Marriott and her vehicle, a 2001 tan Mazda Tribute with the license plate 3045397. Marriott is 5-foot-5, weighs about 130 pounds and has blonde hair and blue eyes. Police did not have a description of what she was last seen wearing.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers had a busy weekend rescuing hikers who became lost or injured while out enjoying New Hampshire's fall foliage. The following incidents all occurred on Sunday, October 7, 2012.GALE RIVER CARRYOUT:At approximately 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 7, 2012, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was notified that hiker Andrew Heasitz of Cambridge, Mass., had sustained a lower leg injury while he and his wife were descending the Gale River Trail after a multi-day backpacking trip. Located below the summit of Galehead Mountain on the Gale River Trail, Heasitz was injured and unable to walk.Fish and Game Conservation Officers and rescuers from the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team responded to the Gale River Trailhead parking area in Bethlehem to assist with the rescue effort. Rescuers started hiking up the Gale River Trail at 11:00 a.m. and reached Heasitz at 12:45 p.m., after hiking approximately 3.25 miles from the trailhead. Once rescuers reached Heasitz, they were assisted by two members from the Appalachian Mountain Club. Rescuers provided Heasitz with first-aid treatment and splinted his lower leg. Once the leg injury was stabilized, Heasitz was placed in a litter and carried over 2 miles down the Gale River Trail. An ATV was used to transport him the final 1.25 miles, with rescuers reaching the Gale River Trailhead at about 4:00 p.m. Heasitz was transported to Littleton Regional Hospital in Littleton, N.H., for further medical evaluation.Heasitz and his wife were prepared for their backcountry adventure and had all the necessary clothing and equipment for a fall backpacking trip. According to Conservation Officer Robert Mancini, "Recent rain in New Hampshire's White Mountain's created adverse trail conditions for hikers. Today we experienced very wet, muddy and slippery surfaces throughout the carry-out. Fortunately, the carry-out went smoothly and we were able to get Mr. Heasitz, along with all rescuers, safely down the mountain without any further incidents." LOST BOY ON MT. CHOCORUA:In another incident on Sunday, October 7, a 12-year-old boy hiking with his mother and younger brother on the Piper Trail on Mt. Chocorua in Albany, N.H., became separated from them and was missing for several hours. On the way down, the boy went on ahead and took a wrong turn onto the Champney Falls Trail. After a 911 call for assistance, Fish and Game Conservation Officers responded, along with Carroll County Sheriff's deputies and personnel from the Conway and Tamworth fire departments. Rescue officials talked to all the hikers on the Chocorua trails. At last, a hiker coming down the Champney Falls Trail reported that he had seen the boy, who had befriended another group coming down the mountain. Officers went up the trail to meet them, and the boy was located at 6:34 p.m. A Carroll County Sheriff's Deputy accompanied the boy to be reunited with his family.LOST HIKERS IN BARTLETT:As the Chocorua incident was wrapping up, Fish and Game officers were notified of two lost hikers in Bartlett. Bucknell University students Scott Berges, age 22, of Meridan, Conn., and Jeff Madrak, age 21, of Meshoppen, Pa., were camping with friends off Bear Notch Road in Bartlett, N.H. The young men decided to bushwack to the top of Bear Mountain. They made it to the top, but as they were coming down, realized they were running out of daylight. They were not equipped with headlamps or extra clothing or food. At 6:24 p.m. on Sunday, October 7, 2012, they called 911 for help. Rescue officials were able to get their GPS coordinates from the call and initiated a search. However, the young men did not stay at the location they had called from. Instead, they made one last attempt to get out to the road by heading due south, moving as rapidly as they could through the woods. They were soon overtaken by darkness and had to stop. Night descended, and it was a cold one, with temperatures dropping to 35 degrees, a cold rain commencing for about 3 hours, and a dusting of snow arriving on the White Mountain peaks. Conservation Officers and New England K-9 Search & Rescue volunteers searched through the night for the young men, focused on the area of the 911 coordinates, but the hikers had moved quite a distance from that location. At daybreak on Monday, October 8, 2012, the young men made their way out to Bear Notch Road and were found at 7:15 a.m. by a New England K-9 Search & Rescue team. They were cold and hungry, but in good health. "Had they stayed put at the location they called from, we may have found them sooner. It was a long cold night for them," said Sgt. Brian Abrams of Fish and Game. "These young men were humbled by the experience and very grateful for the efforts of the search teams who worked through the night to find them." "Autumn is a beautiful time to get out and enjoy New Hampshire's outdoors, but hikers should be prepared for mountain temperatures to change dramatically from day to night," said Sgt. Abrams. "Be prepared with extra clothing and food. Having a light source is especially important as the days grow shorter. And those beautiful leaves can be wet and slippery when they cover the trails, so watch your footing and consider using hiking poles for extra stability."Learn more about safe hiking and the ten essential items to have in your pack at http://www.hikeSafe.com.

Monday, October 8, 2012

A walk in the woods rewards us with glimpses of forest animals—a scampering chipmunk, a prowling toad, a trailside salamander. But sightings of lesser-known creatures are, by definition, rare. Many woodland animals are not active during the daylight, and most are shy about contact with humans. Typical hikers move with enough stomp and clomp to warn every listening thing of their approach. If we do spot an animal through the trees, it is likely to be moving quickly—away.

DID YOU KNOW?

Do not handle scat with your bare hands. Animal waste can transfer disease via contact or inhalation. Look. Use a stick. Take a photo.

Often, the presence of wild creatures is revealed to us only in the signs they leave behind. Tracks, nests, food scraps, and shed feathers or antlers are all clues to the ways and means of forest animals. And so is their scat.

Poop, feces, droppings, dung—scat by any other name will smell as sweet. OK, not quite sweet, but you may be surprised that scat of the non-domesticated kind does not often present olfactory offense. If you can get past a basic level of squeamishness, a study of these animal signs will reveal much about life in the woods.

We can analyze animal diets and habits by examining their scat. Wild woodland creatures eat local and eat (mostly) fresh, although some may contrive to mix human food into their menu.Click Here for continued article:==>Reading Animal Signs - AMC Outdoors

WMUR: Henniker police searching for missing 3 1/2 year old in area of Peasley Road. Last seen @ 10:45am. .@WMUR9

UPDATED: 2:11pm 10/08/2012Henniker police said the boy, named Brody, was wearing a gray sweatshirt with "GAP" on the front, blue jeans and sneakers. He is just under 3 feet tall, weighs about 35 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.He was last seen in the area of 48 Peasley Road about 10:45 a.m. There is no photo of the boy yet available.Anyone with information is asked to call Henniker police at 603-428-3213.

UPDATED: 5:45pm 10/08/12
STRAFFORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man reported missing by his family has been found safe in the woods in Strafford.

Fifty-four-year-old Francis Drown of Rochester had gone hiking on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain in Strafford on Sunday morning but did not return by evening.

About 20 people searched the woods on Sunday night but did not find him. Search teams continued on Monday morning. Drown was found by a search dog shortly before noon.

Fish and Game Department officials say he had been camping in the woods about a half mile from where his vehicle was parked near Johnsonboro Road and was unaware that people were looking for him.

STRAFFORD NH — Rescue crews gathered on Johnsonboro Road near Blue Job Mountain Sunday evening to execute a search for what officials believed to be a missing hiker or hikers.

Due to inconsistent cell phone service little was known of the party’s description as officials began canvassing the area a little before 8 p.m.

Members of New Hampshire Fish and Game along with Strafford police were on scene attempting to make contact with the lost party via cell phone, though service in the area is sparse.

A K-9 team was dispatched to pick up a track, but was unsuccessful in initial attempts. Officials attempted contact with Verizon Wireless to get a signal from the closest service tower to the lost party’s phone. Initial attempts to do so were also unsuccessful.

By 10:15 p.m. as rain began falling more heavily, search volunteers continued arriving along with an ambulance and requested N.H. Department of Forestry vehicle a well as a Gator Utility All Terrain Vehicle.

UPDATED: 9:57am 10/08/12
A search for a missing hiker or hikers continues on a New Hampshire mountain.

Searchers from the Strafford police and New Hampshire Fish and Game gathered Sunday evening to begin looking for a man who was reported missing on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain.

Fish and Game spokeswoman Jane Vachon says the search continued into Monday morning.

Blue Job Mountain is a mountain summit in Strafford County in the state of New Hampshire (NH). Blue Job Mountain climbs to 1,296 feet (395.02 meters) above sea level. Blue Job Mountain is located at latitude - longitude coordinates (also called lat - long coordinates or GPS coordinates) of N 43.33147 and W -71.115065.

UPDATED: 7:05pm 10/09/12
BOSTON (WHDH) – The body found in the Charles River near Boston University Tuesday morning has been positively identified as missing graduate student Jonathan Dailey.

State police said Dailey’s body was spotted by a BU rowing coach at about 7:25 a.m. Tuesday. The family of the 23-year-old graduate student Jonathan Dailey was in Boston waiting to hear if the body of the person found is that of their son, who has been missing for a week. He was last seen at his apartment on Gardner Street in Allston.

UPDATED 9:32 AM EDT Oct 08, 2012

BOSTON —
A body was found Monday morning in the Charles River, but it was not clear if the person is a missing graduate student who disappeared last week.

FAMILY'S UPDATE: (VIA: Facebook Page 12:43pm)

Just got a call from the detective to assure us: there's a breaking news report about a body retrieved from the Charles River, but the state police have confirmed to the Boston police that it is not Jonathan, it's the body of an older man.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

MARLOW, N.H. (AP) — A hunter who got lost in the woods in Marlow, N.H., has been found safe.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game department says 31-year-old Eric Nutting of Charlestown was deer hunting behind a friend’s home in Marlow Saturday afternoon. His family reported him missing around 9:30 p.m., and conservation officers found him around 1:15 a.m. Sunday about a half mile from his car.

With the arrival of the fall hunting season, officials are warning hunters to prepare for the unexpected by carrying a flashlight, map and compass.

Posted By Scott Thistle On October 7, 2012 (8:06 am) In Living, News, State

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

NEWRY, Maine — Not everybody trained all year for the North American Wife Carrying Championships the way Dave Castro and his wife Lacey did, but most of the 50 couples that participated Saturday at the annual event at Sunday River still had a good time.

“It’s hard to tell because the course is a little different every year,” Dave Castro said waiting to see if his time would hold up. “I feel pretty good, I don’t know if I have any more.”

The event, in its 13th year, drew a crowd of spectators of between 1,500 and 2,000 people.
But in the end, defending World Champions Taisto Miettinen and Kristina Haapanen, who traveled from Helsinki, Finland — home of the World Wife Carrying Championships came out on top with a time of 52.58 seconds.

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

Miettinen said the course in Maine was a little different from the course back home. The big difference?
“It’s more flat on our course,” Miettinen said before his qualifying heat. After the final race Miettinen said the hardest part of the course was the first uphill obstacle and said the water hazard — more of a mud pit — was more challenging than the plastic-lined water obstacles on the World Championship course in Finland.
The Finnish race also is based on the best first time, where the North American Championships feature a final race where the top finishers compete.

The prize, besides a check for $530 and some trophies crafted to look like the timber hurdles, is the winning woman’s weight in beer.

Miettinen and Haapanen displayed some Finnish sportsmanship by sharing their prize with the Castros and the second place couple, Jesse Wall and Christine Arsenault of South Paris, Maine, who got into the final race with a time of 53.22 seconds.

“Against Taisto, we went in hand-to-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder and he got that big long leg in front of my stomach and I just couldn’t quite get over it,” said Wall of the first log hurdle on the course. “I got stuck there. We lost some time to him.”

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

Miettinen said the beer was a thank-you gift for the Castros and the other folks who helped arrange their trip to Maine. The couple planned to stay the week in the U.S. and were going to make a trip to New York City before heading back home next Saturday. Miettinen figured the prize money would come in handy on a shopping trip in the Big Apple.

Castro, a former assistant football coach at Lewiston, and his wife won the event two years ago and came in second in 2011, ended up in third place Saturday with a qualifying time of 53.66 seconds.
Castro said they put in their best effort and had a good time just the same and despite finishing two spots behind the Finns.

“You train all year long for 50 seconds but that’s the way it goes,” Castro said.
That’s pretty much the way Jason and Robin Esposito, of Wells River, Vt., felt, too — all except the part about training all year long.

Robin said the couple was at Sunday River during a vacation in August and they heard about the race and decided to come back to participate.

“We entered the race and everything but we didn’t even practice until we got here,” Jason Esposito said. “You know we ran around the parking lot a little bit when we got here.”
The couple finished in ninth place. Jason attributes it to his work as a roofer. “He trains all the time, at work,” Robin said with chuckle.
The race itself involves two-person teams — usually husband and wife — with the husband carrying the wife as she drapes herself over his shoulders.

Racers on the 260-yard course start running up a hill, cross a timber hurdle, wade through a mud-water pit, climb over a big pile of sand and then bolt for the finish line.

But the uphill start didn’t seem to slow the Finns much, the couple won their heat and went on to win the North American title for 2012.

Both the ultra fit and the somewhat flabby got in on the action and not everybody racing were super close — or even knew each other at all for that matter.

Melissa Quigley and Chris Poirier, met for the first time in person on Saturday morning.
“This is kind of a blind date for us,” said Quigley, who became Poirier’s partner in the race after his original partner couldn’t make it.

“I got the word out on Facebook and connected with another lady I knew and she couldn’t do it but she recommended Melissa,” Poirier said as the couple practiced before the race. “We texted yesterday for the first time and spoke words together for the first time about 12 minutes ago.”

The new friendship didn’t work out so bad as the couple finished in fifth place, missing the podium by a couple of seconds.